Which ranking system to follow ?

woogzmama
Tue, 17 Mar 2015 19:22:45 +0000

I doubt that anyone needs to know that Harvard and Stanford are excellent colleges. Does it matter whether one is ranked above or below the other in a particular list? An obsession with numerical rankings is a recipe for disappointment, since students will not take the trouble to identify colleges that suit them. Use the “SuperMatch” function, or provide more information about your own attributes. There’s no harm in looking at various rankings, but it is certainly unwise to decide that one college is better than another simply because the latest issue of some magazine ranked it two spots higher. What happens if you choose your college based on that difference, and then - Gadzooks! - they switch places the following year? If a college appears below a threshold you have set, would you rule it out despite it seeming to fit all other criteria? I find all of this rather foolish, especially because I have a son at a small, quirky college that ranks quite high on some lists, and low on others. It is because the college has a relatively high acceptance rate (over 50%), but its curriculum is not a good fit for everyone and its retention rate is low. It has a great graduate school admission record, but not very high average earnings for graduates (no Business or Engineering departments). It is always listed as a “Best Buy,” given its commitment to debt-free education and relatively low cost of attendance, but some lists do not accurately reveal the typical aid and scholarship awards. Perhaps some students and parents would prefer that their colleges remain well-kept secrets, in order to reduce the competition, while others want the brand prestige. Most students will not get into a “Top Twenty” college, regardless of the list they consult, and they should not be discouraged if their college is ranked 58, while a neighbor’s is ranked 49. That will play no role whatsoever in the quality of education they receive, or in their future success and happiness.